In mix-up of identity, police look for judge instead of accused in theft case

In a major goof-up, a police officer in Firozabad, Uttar Pradesh, bizarrely started looking for a judge instead of the actual accused in a theft case.

The confusion happened when Sub-Inspector Banwarilal was supposed to serve a court notice to a man named Rajkumar, who was wanted in a theft case.

But instead of Rajkumar’s name, he wrote down the name of the judge, Nagma Khan, on the order. He then reported to the court that he went to “Nagma Khan’s house" and couldn’t find the accused there.

Judge Nagma Khan, who had issued the original order, was shocked.

In her March 24 statement, she called the situation “bizarre” and said the officer clearly had no idea what he was doing.

She pointed out several big mistakes: he wrongly called the order a non-bailable warrant, didn’t even read the document properly, and just blindly wrote down her name.

The judge said this kind of carelessness shows the officer didn’t understand his responsibilities at all. She also said that police officers must be very careful when dealing with court orders because mistakes like this can seriously harm innocent people.

Judge Khan criticised Banwarilal for not doing his job properly and called it a “gross dereliction of duty".

She has asked senior police officers, including the top police official in the state, to take action against him to make sure such mistakes don’t happen again.

Uttar Pradesh